Ian Cox, 60, currently Senior Canon at St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong, will take what some might see as a backward step in his career and return to parish ministry next month. He takes up the post of rector of the small parish of Brighton/Rockdale in the Georges River Region on September 12.

After over twelve years in the hustle and bustle of a thriving Cathedral ministry, he knows there will be challenges and difficulties in his new post. “I think the total congregation at Brighton /Rockdale, at around 70, is less than any of the four congregations at St Michael’s,” he said.

His new parish has a population of around 25,000 and is ethnically diverse, with a thriving Chinese and Greek population. But this diversity is not reflected in the congregations at Brighton-Le-Sands and Rockdale, and that’s one of the things Mr Cox is determined to change. He wants to see many new faces from all different backgrounds. “And after being a minister for over 30 years I have a few ideas,” he said.

On the agenda are plans to re-invigorate English language classes for the local population, find out how to reach high school students, and set in motion a new outreach event for Christmas.

“With the diocesan Mission, one of the challenges for the diocese and for me as a person is that what we have been doing in the past in these very difficult parishes is to put young men there who have little experience,” he said. “They have a generation gap and a cultural gap with the congregation. If we keep on doing what we have been doing, we will keep on getting what we have been getting: flat congregations and burnt out ministers. So we have to do something different in order to try and reach the goal of ten per cent.”